Illegal Immigration by Tom Reynolds
Illegal immigration should have been a big issue in the recent election. The Congressional Districts along the Mexican border (which should be the most affected) seem to tell a different story.
Congressional Districts along the Mexican border
Democrat victories (7):
Republican victories (4):
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California 48
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Arizona 6 (Tiny Area)
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Texas 23 (Large Area)
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Texas 15 (Tiny Area)
In the only Senate elections,
Democrats won in:
In the Governors elections
Democrats won in:
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California,
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Arizona
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New Mexico
Republicans won in
We know illegal immigration is out of control. For those of us in New York, we wonder why illegal immigration wasn’t an overriding issue in three of the four “border states”?
While we think of all four states as “border states”, there’s some interesting statistics that may demonstrate why those states have a different view of the immigration problem.
The USA / Mexico border is about 1,990 miles long. That’s a lot of mileage to cover with border security, especially when the US President isn’t interested in border security.
To give you a sense of scale:
(It’s about 1,294 miles from Albany NY to Omaha Nebraska.)
(It’s about 390 miles from Erie PA to Albany NY along the NY Thruway.)
(It’s about 224 miles from Rochester NY to Albany NY along the NY Thruway.)
(It’s about 140 miles from Syracuse NY to Albany NY along the NY Thruway.)
Based purely on the amount of border exposure, it’s not hard to see why illegal immigration is such a big issue in Texas.
Obviously, there are other issues that affect illegal immigration, but the amount of border mileage gives us a clue as to why three border states seem less interested.
